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Remember when Apple launched Ping? It was supposed to be the quintissential social network for anyone who loved music. Except that Apple crippled Ping right out of the gate, and we learned that it wasn't really a social network at all - it was just another method the company wanted to take advantage of to get people to buy more music. It was annoying and resrictive. You could only talk about music that was available on iTunes...and nothing more. Recently, it was rumored that Apple would kill Ping, and now it has been confirmed. Ping closes its doors on September 30th. Anyone out there upset by the closure? Anyone?

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Oh, hello there, crazy drool-worthy and inexpensive ultra high-speed Internet from Google! Yeah, that’s right, Google is looking to launch an experimental, ultra high-speed broadband network in a small number of trial locations across the United States. We are talking about Gigiabit fiber to the home speeds here. The only thing that currently comes close is Verizon FiOS, and their current download speed tops out at 50 megabits per second. Gigabit would be 1000 megabits (or, 128 MB) per second, which is just insultingly fast. Even better? They want to launch it at inexpensive prices in the launch/test cities. So, why would they do this, and what would be the benefit?

First, competition. Google wants to bring the price down while bringing the service level up, and they are putting their money where their mouth is and challenging other ISPs right on their home turf. If you had a choice between crazy-fast Google Internet and sucky Comcast, you’d likely end up going with Google in a heartbeat, since it’s like 200x faster, and less expensive. Second, Google is getting into the web apps business hard. It would be ideal for them for web applications and native desktop applications to have no difference in speed, and you can bet that they’d be deploying these tests to optimize the hell out of their web app products. Make no mistake, they want Google Docs to run just as fast in your browser as Microsoft Word runs when you launch it on your local machine.

We love this, and despite having a 50/20 FiOS connection, we want it badly. Google, bring this to Seattle, k?

It’s the opening of the Christmas season and an integral part in Miracle on 34th Street, but that doesn’t mean the huge Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade which prances through several blocks of New York City on live TV is just meant for everybody…especially those from rival networks.

You see, the good folks at Macy’s invited the cast of FOX’s Glee to participate in the parade. Reports say that the actors have been working on costuming and choreography for the event, which has now been nixed by NBC. It seems the Peacock doesn’t want the kids from that extremely successful show stealing any more of its ratings. Since NBC has the right to air the parade, they simply told Macy’s to cancel the deal.

Scientists have discovered that cotton candy may help grow replacement tissue. It can be used for making networks of blood vessels in laboratory grown skin, muscle, bone or fat. Dr. Jason Spector of Cornell Medical Center in New York and Leon Bellan of Cornell University presented their research in a paper for Soft Matter. A thick liquid chemical is poured over a chunk of the sugary stuff. After it solidifies, it is placed in warm water to dissolve the candy. What is left is a piece of material with tiny channels which are lined with cells to create the blood vessels. Interestingly enough, while Dr. Spector is a cotton candy fan, partner Bellan claims, “It’s disgusting. I won’t eat it.”

While most consumers never need more than a single WiFi router, any hardcore wireless geek knows how tricky it can be to cover a large area with multiple WiFi routers bridged together.

Enter Meraki, with their sleek new mesh based indoor/outdoor solution. To enable coverage for a large area, you just need to buy a series of these devices, connect any one of them to a hardline Internet connection, and let the rest of them do the rest. They automatically link up and create a robust network spanning 2-2,000 of the autonomous routers to provide the tubes to everyone within range.

It’s been making headlines for months as negotiations continue to drag, but that doesn’t mean the bomb has been completely defused. In fact, it’s ticking louder than ever before. The union representing TV and film writers (the Writers Guild of America) is currently trying to work a deal with the networks and studios (the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers)—unfortunately, things aren’t going well.

Back in 1988 during the famous writers’ walkout, the entertainment industry lost an estimated $500 million when writers refused to produce scripts. Today? A strike would be even more damaging. The current issues up for debate include splitting revenues for new media, and whether reality shows should be unionized. The guild could call for a strike as early as November 1, which would really put a damper on the fall season…and even the mid-season, if things aren’t worked out. As a result, studios have moved up production schedules to shoot as many new episodes as possible, before any work has to stop. Extra script orders are coming in…which isn’t making it any easier for the possibly-striking writers. The good news is that reality shows don’t use writers (at least, that’s the official story), so fan favorites like American Idol should be safe from the threat…but that also means the mid-season could be crammed with reality and re-runs…and not a whole lot more.

Ratings rivals CBS and ABC have been slugging it out this fall, each trying to jockey for the top slot in the ratings race. CSI dominance usually secures CBS at least one top ten ratings win, but this year ABC’s reality smash hit Dancing with the Stars may boogie right on up to the top. Or…will it? Last week the show scored more than twenty million viewers, but fewer tuned in to watch the results. This week, only fifteen million tuned in to the celebrity two-step. Between the two broadcast networks, eight of the top ten ratings list was dominated. Shows like Desperate Housewives, CSI: Miami, and Without a Trace secured the viewers – more than fifteen million each. NBC, the network that struggled in last place a year ago, almost managed to get 17 million viewers for Heroes. But at least one more network will attempt to bring in viewers, perhaps topping them all in the end.